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'High-risk takedown' in downtown Sarnia

Sarnia police closed off the intersection at Christina and Davis streets just before 9 a.m. Thursday for a "high-risk takedown." Sarnia Vice and emergency response team (ERT) officers were on scene, police said. TYLER KULA/ THE OBSERVER/ QMI AGENCY

Sarnia police were looking for an illegal gun when officers with weapons drawn arrested two people downtown Thursday morning, a spokesperson says.

Officers didn't find the firearm they were looking for, but they did find drugs, said Const. John Sottosanti.

Canine units and officers in tactical gear were seen taking cover behind cruisers stopped in the Christina at Davis Street intersection just after 9 a.m. before two people, one man and one woman, were handcuffed.

A handful of people watched from the sidewalk.

Officers, including members of the services' emergency response and drug units, were on their way to execute a search warrant in the 100 block of Queen Street, Sottosanti said.

Suspects, he said, were thought to have an illegal small-calibre handgun, based on information given to police.

It's not clear if officers intended to make the arrest downtown, he said.

“But that's where (the suspects) were located.”

It was a high-risk takedown, he said, since officers had reason to believe the suspects were armed.

“We're not going to take any chances,” Sottosanti said. “We wanted to ensure everything was done properly.”

No guns were found on the suspects or in the Queen Street residence, Sottosanti said.

Marijuana and cannabis resin were though, he said. The quantity wasn't immediately available.

A 50-year-old woman and 57-year-old man, both from Sarnia, face possession of controlled substance charges.